By Rebecca Kaplan, VRG Intern

Vegetarians and vegans showed up in full force on Sunday May 27, 2012 for the fifth annual NYC Veggie Pride Parade. Hundreds of proud vegetarians marched from Greenwich Village to Union Square park to show their support for vegetarianism.

According to the parade’s press release, the parade was a venue for people who are vegetarians to come together with one united voice, whatever their individual reasons are for choosing not to eat meat. To whit, a variety of organizations were represented at the parade, from a group of Seventh day Adventists, who choose not to eat meat for religious reasons, to Mercy for Animals, an animal-rights organization. The Vegetarian Resource Group was there with plenty of information about the vegan and vegetarian lifestyle for any passersby who were curious, or vegetarians who wanted to learn more.

VRG volunteer Dorothy Kenney, who has been with the organization for two years, came out to represent the organization and answer questions. For a man who dabbled with a vegan diet but was unable to find food that would fill him up, she recommended VRG’s vegan food pyramid (http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/MyVeganPlate.pdf). Several grandparents of vegan and vegetarian children were grateful to receive information packets with guides for vegetarian children (http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/veganpregnancy.php). And for people who had a limited understanding of vegetarian, such as one man who asked, “Do vegetarians eat fish?” there was Vegetarianism in a Nutshell (http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/nutshell.htm).

The event drew a great crowd, and vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike lined up to sample the delicious free vegan fare that some booths were giving away. All of these aspects, as well as the people wearing bright Pea and Carrot costumes (give peas a chance!) drew attention from the general New York crowd, which helped accomplish the parade’s goal: to “see vegans and vegetarians come out of the shadows once and for all,” Pamela Rice, the organizer of the parade, said in a press release. To volunteer at VRG outreach booths, please contact Mary at [email protected].

To support VRG outreach, please donate at https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565.

For information on VRG internships, see http://www.vrg.org/student/.

This great summer recipe is from Vegan Handbook By Debra Wasserman and Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D., which contains over 200 delicious recipes, meal plans, and vegetarian resources for all ages! Purchase a copy »

Sauteed Collard Greens and Tomatoes
Serves 4

1 teaspoon oil
1 pound collards, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

Saute all ingredients together over medium-high heat for 7 minutes. Serve warm.

By Rebecca Kaplan, VRG Intern

The Vegetarian Resource Group held a lunch at Candle 79 on Sunday, May 6, 2012 to celebrate VRG’s 30th anniversary. About 30 members of The Vegetarian Resource Group gathered to discuss VRG’s initiatives, how the organization has grown over the past 30 years, and enjoy the all-vegan samplings at Candle.

With some squeezing VRG occupied almost all of the space on the second floor.

Many guests at the lunch had been involved with VRG for a long time, including Linda Long, the photographer for many of the magazine’s cover photos. She brought with her a bottle of champagne and two candles which read “30”, which was one option for the 30th anniversary cover of Vegetarian Journal this summer.

At the lunch, Debra Wasserman gave a speech filling guests in on many initiatives VRG has successfully completed recently, including providing nursing homes with information on making vegetarian meals. Simply Vegan, one of VRG’s titles, is going into its fifth edition soon, and has sold over 100,000 copies, a far cry from over twenty years ago, when it was first published, and Wasserman said, “many people didn’t even know what the word ‘vegan’ meant.”

The lunch was a great chance for VRG members in New York City to connect. Thank you to Heather Gorn for organizing this event.

Last week, S. 3239, federal legislation to reform the egg industry and ban barren battery cages, was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., with a bipartisan group of original cosponsors. The Humane Society of the United States says this bill (identical to H.R. 3798 introduced earlier in the House) will lead to major improvements in the treatment of 280 million hens involved in U.S. egg production, essentially doubling the amount of space per bird, banning inhumane practices such as forced starvation molting, and requiring on-carton labeling so consumers know how hens are raised.

For more information, click here.

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

Beyond Meat™, from Savage River, Inc., a new meat analog company founded by Ethan Brown and based in Cumberland, Maryland, began out of concern for farm animals. Spending weekends as a child on his family’s farm, Ethan Brown grew increasingly concerned about the plight of animals raised for food. He eventually became vegan. Unsatisfied with meat analogs on the market, he decided to start a company that offered something “more realistic, tastier and cheaper.” He turned to Fu-Hung Hsieh at the University of Missouri.

Fu-Hung Hsieh, biological engineering professor at the University of Missouri, and his assistant Harold Huff, perfected over many years the technology to make a meat analog. They used an industrial extruder to which a powder mix is added to water in certain proportions and heated to a very high temperature such that meat-like striations form. Then the product is quickly cooled so that it will not melt but retain its fibrous, meat-like texture. The entire process takes only seconds. The University sold exclusive licensing rights to Brown.

Made from soy, pea protein, amaranth, and carrot fiber with a few other vegan ingredients, Beyond Meat™ Veggie Chicken Strips, according to Brown, “will appeal to vegans and vegetarians as well as mainstream consumers looking to incorporate meatless meals into their diets while maintaining the taste and texture of meat.” According to product literature, a three oz. serving of Beyond Meat™ Veggie Chicken Strips contains “18 g of complete protein, no saturated or trans fats, and is gluten-free.” It is rich in iron and low in sodium (“260 mg/3 oz. compared to similar products with up to 690 mg/3 oz. serving”). There is no white sugar in the product (the typically corn-derived sweetener, maltodextrin, is listed as an ingredient).

Brent Taylor, Vice President of Corporate Development for Beyond Meat™, told The VRG that “unlike other meat analogs, ours has a visible fiber structure that pulls apart with your fingers…and I can eat it, stand alone, hot or cold, just like real chicken.”

The VRG first learned of Brown’s product in October 2011, when the writer spotted it on the menu at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary’s ThanksLiving: http://woodstocksanctuary.org/news-events/events/thanksliving-2011/. There it was served as Savage River Faux Chicken Rajas in Orange Garlic Mojo. Since then, it has been served in many Mid-Atlantic universities and hospitals.

Mary Adams, Vice President of Marketing for Beyond Meat™, told us that “…36 northern California Whole Foods Markets will begin using Beyond Meat™ in some of its prepared food items in mid-June 2012.” These items may include chicken wraps, pastas, enchiladas, and salads. In Fall 2012, the product will be available to consumers as a retail item. Further expansion to other Whole Foods Markets, mainstream supermarkets, convenience stores, and similar establishments, is planned.

Soon to be launched by the company is a product called Veggie Beef Crumble first to be used in food service with eventual plans for retail sale. Plans for a pork analog are also in progress.

For updates to Beyond Meat’s™ entry to the marketplace, readers may consult its website: http://gobeyondmeat.com/

For recent press on Beyond Meat™, readers may find out more at these sources:

• http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/05/17/152519988/a-farmer-bets-better-fake-chicken-meat-will-be-as-good-as-the-real-thing
• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/opinion/sunday/finally-fake-chicken-worth-eating.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB
• http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,89629092001_1993980,00.html

The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including the Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from companies. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.

For more information on food processing methods and food ingredients and to purchase our Guide to Food Ingredients, please visit our website at http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

For updates on ingredients and other information of interest to vegetarians and vegans, please subscribe to our e-newsletter: http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews

There are many ways to stay connected to The Vegetarian Resource Group!
Get our blog delivered right to your inbox: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheVRGBlog
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To support VRG research, donate at https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

By Anna Austin, VRG Intern

For three weeks of the summer of 2010 I stayed in Heredia, Costa Rica. Through a program called CPI (Centro Panamericano de Idiomas), I lived with a family and attended classes at a school for five hours a day. Before I started, I filled out a questionnaire with information about medications, allergies, living habits, etc. to determine which family to live with would be the best fit for me. There was also a section about food allergies and restrictions which included the option to select “vegetarian.” I called the school ahead of time to check to see if it was possible to put “vegan” on the sheet. I talked to the people in charge of the school. They said there had been other vegans who had come to the program before and that they would let the family know about my diet. They assured me that it would be more than possible to have them cook vegan meals for me. It seemed like it would all work out perfectly.

The first day I arrived, the family I was going to be living with presented me with lots of food as a way of welcoming me. Unfortunately, none of the food I was offered was vegan. I felt rude refusing their offers, but I was also nervous that the school had not actually informed them of my dietary restrictions. My Spanish skills at the time were not very strong and I had very little confidence in my abilities, so it was a bit of a challenge to communicate with them. Eventually, I was able to make clear that I did not eat anything that came from animals. They asked me if I was a vegetarian. I told them I was, but that I also did not eat dairy or eggs. They understood. They thought it was weird, but they respected it.

The grandmother was the one who made the meals for everyone in the house. She was very kind and always assured me that the dishes were vegetarian. The meals I had while I was there were always delicious. The food was simple. I had black beans and rice just about every day. I ate some type of fruit (usually mango, papaya or pineapple) with every meal. There were lots of vegetables, great coffee, and most of the bread in their house was vegan. There were almost always tortillas and pico de gallo to go with the black beans and rice, so I often just made myself mini burritos.

When I wanted a snack after school there were mini convenience stores nearby that had nuts, chips, dried fruits, or other snack-type foods to munch on. I never got too hungry and I liked to save my appetite for when I got home because there was always a nice meal waiting for me. Sometimes I went out to eat with the friends I made from the school. I could always find something to eat at restaurants. Most had French fries, beans, rice, vegetables, chips, salsa and soups that I could eat, but I still always checked and double-checked with the waiters about the ingredients. Usually I just said I was a vegetarian, but that I was also allergic to dairy and eggs which made things a lot easier.

I think that even if I hadn’t been in an organized program, I still would have been able to find and make myself a variety of meals in Costa Rica. The food seemed really simple to me. Of course, since I didn’t prepare my own food, there’s no way I can be completely sure that the food the family made for me was completely vegan or if they added anything extra for flavor. I don’t know for certain that they understood the extent of the strictness of my diet. I’ll never know. I can just be content in their efforts to make me feel comfortable in their home. That’s really all I care about. I’d like to believe and I DO believe that my diet remained completely vegan throughout that entire stay.

Tips on remaining vegan in a foreign country

• Be optimistic. You’ve probably heard countless stories about people who have been “unable” to remain vegan or vegetarian in certain situations abroad. Dont get discouraged before you even try. Go into it with an open mind. It may be difficult, but it is possible.
• Speak up! Ask about ingredients. Don’t be afraid to tell people what you can and can’t eat. If you are going somewhere English is not spoken, learn (or write down) the words for eggs, milk, butter, cheese, dairy, meat, animal fat, chicken, beef, pork, gelatin, etc. in the language of your destination.
• Bring along some of your own food. You probably want to pack foods that travel well, such as granola bars, crackers, or nuts. It’s always good to have extra snacks in case it becomes difficult to find food you want.
• Use the internet. Search for vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurants and grocery stores near the area in which you will be staying. Plan out ahead of time how you are going to get there and pay for your food.

These reviews originally appeared in Vegetarian Journal Issue 2, 2011. To subscribe to the Vegetarian Journal, visit: http://www.vrg.org/journal/.

How to Grow a School Garden

By Arden Bucklin-Sporer and Rachel Kathleen Pringle

The authors of How to Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers are involved with the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance. They strongly believe that it is important for children to spend as much time as possible outdoors, both to prevent obesity and to connect with nature. When children (and adults) work with school gardens, they hopefully develop a better understanding of the importance of nutrition and health.

The first half of How to Grow a School Garden focuses on creating and developing a school's garden space. The second half of the book includes tips on getting your community involved, raising funds to build and maintain your garden, designing a school garden, and finding the materials you will need. A handful of primarily vegan recipes using crops that may be grown are also featured.

Especially helpful is a section about making the case to build a school garden. Comments include the fact that students who grow their own food are more likely to eat fresh produce and to express preference for these items. Making gardens also encourages creativity and cooperation.

Additionally, the book includes examples of letters to use as guidance when introducing the project to your community or going after funds. Sample garden designs are also offered, as well as lesson plans that teachers can use year-round.

How to Grow a School Garden (ISBN 978-1-60469-000-2) is 224 pages and includes color photographs that will grab your attention. It is published by Timber Press. This book retails for $24.95 and can be purchased online or at your local bookstore. Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.

Vicki's Vegan Kitchen

By Vicki Chelf

Vicki Chelf has been a cooking teacher for years, and Vicki's Vegan Kitchen offers a wide range of healthful vegan options. Her creative recipes include Whole Wheat Waffles, Pumpkin Seed Paté, Rosemary and Garlic Focaccia, Petit Coconut-Ginger Scones, Arame-Orange-Watercress Salad, and Chestnut Porcini Bisque. The book also has recipes for Vegan Pesto, Homemade Stuffed Ravioli, Eggplant and Sun-Dried Tomato Pizza, Cajun-Style Okra, Bulgur and Sweet Potato Pilaf, Lentil Pie, Carrot Maple Cake, Melon Sorbet, plus more.

In addition to Vicki's recipes, I was especially impressed with her hand-drawn illustrations. Several of these depict step-bystep instructions to prepare dishes.

Vicki's Vegan Kitchen includes chapters about kitchen staples, cooking methods, and food preparation techniques, such as baking bread. Useful tips are also provided throughout the book. Although nutritional analyses are not provided, most of the recipes appear not to be high in fat.

Vicki's Vegan Kitchen (ISBN 978-0-7570-0251-9) is published by Square One Publishers. The book is 320 pages and retails for $17.95. Purchase this cookbook online or at your local bookstore. Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.

Viva Vegan!

By Terry Hope Romero

Latin cooking can go far beyond chips and guacamole dips! Venezuelan-American vegan chef Terry Hope Romero shows you just how festive and inventive Latin cuisines can be with her new book, Viva Vegan!

Among the 200 recipes are Habanero-Melon-Papaya Salsa, Salvadorian Marinated Slaw, Yellow Chile Grilled Tempeh, and Chorizo Seitan Sausages. The book also includes recipes for Braised Brazilian Shredded Kale, Peruvian Potatoes with Spicy 'Cheezy' Sauce, Homemade Soft Corn Tortillas, Black Bean-Sweet
Potato Tamales, Corn-Crusted Pumpkin-Potato Empanadas, and so much more.

Nutritional analyses are not provided; however, most of the recipes are not high in fat. The cookbook includes color photos and offers helpful tips throughout.

Viva Vegan! (ISBN 978-0-7382-1273-9) is published by Lifelong Books and is 285 pages. It can be purchased online from The Vegetarian Resource Group
at www.vrg.org/catalog. Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.

Caribbean Vegan

By Taymer Mason

As the title implies, Caribbean Vegan focuses on cooking traditions from islands such as Barbados, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Grenada, and the French West Indies. There are over 125 recipes, including a chapter about condiments and sauces, which play a vital part in Caribbean cuisine. Learn how to make Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, Bajan Pepper Sauce, and Trinidadian Coconut Chutney. Breakfast options include Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits and Banana Fritters, while the entrées chapter lets you sample Jerk 'Sausages,', Lentil Roast, and Jerk Pizza with Sweet Potato Crust. For dessert, try Gingerbread, Barbadian Coconut Turnovers, or Piña Colada Ice Cream.

Caribbean Vegan (ISBN 978-1-61519-025-6) is published by The Experiment, LCC, and is 256 pages. It retails for $18.95 and can be purchased online or at your local bookstore. Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.

Kansha – Celebrating Japan's Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions

By Elizabeth Andoh

It is often difficult to find great-tasting Japanese vegetarian food since many Japanese dishes contain fish sauce or broth. Fortunately, Kansha is a terrific book serving up Japan's finest vegan cuisine. This cookbook features stocks and soups, rice and noodle dishes, soybased entrées, desserts, and more. Some wonderful recipes include Festive Flower Sushi Rolls, Miso- Glazed Bitter Melon with Kabocha and Tofu, Candied Sweet Potatoes, and Roasted Rice Dumplings with Sticky-Sweet Soy Sauce.

Kansha (ISBN 978-1-58008-955-5) is a 296-page hardcover book with color photos and is published by Ten Speed Press. It retails for $35 and can be purchased online or from your local bookstore. Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.

Vegan Unplugged

By Jon Robertson with recipes by Robin Robertson

Vegan Unplugged – A Pantry Cuisine Cookbook and Survival Guide teaches readers how to prepare for an emergency, such as a hurricane or earthquake, as well as when you lose power at home.

Chapter 2, "The Five-Day Meal Box," includes menus and a shopping list for non-perishable items that can be stored in a 50- gallon lidded container. Dishes like Corn Chowder and Beat-the-Blahs Black Bean Patties, Curry in a Hurry, and Layered Tortilla Skillet serve four. Many of the recipes require short cooking times (using a camp stove); others, such as Chickpea Spread, Texas Twister Caviar, and Emergency Gazpacho, require no cooking at all.

Chapter 12, "Emergency Preparedness Guide," includes a disaster supply kit list. And Chapter 13, "The Animals Need a Plan, Too," reminds you to have an emergency plan for cats, dogs, and other animals in your care.

Vegan Unplugged – A Pantry Cuisine Cookbook and Survival Guide (ISBN 978-0-9800131-2-2) is published by Vegan
Heritage Press. It is 202 pages and retails for $14.95. You can purchase it online at www.veganheritagepress.com/order.html or at your local bookstore. Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.

Sunfood Traveler

By John McCabe

As raw foods establishments become more popular, Sunfood Traveler: Guide to Raw Food Culture, Restaurants, Recipes, Nutrition, Sustainable Living, and the Restoration of Nature will become a valuable resource. This new paperback guide provides information about where to find raw foods restaurants and retreats around the world, businesses that promote raw foods, raw foods websites, raw chef training, and so much more.

In addition, the book features a section called "Random Recipes for a Raw Kitchen" with approximately 70 dishes. These include Cabbage Pumpkin Seed Pâté, Sundried Tomato Butter, Stuffed Red Bell Peppers, Veggie Loaf with Gravy, No Bean Hummus, Marinated Mushrooms, Lemon Pudding, Apple Cobbler, Raw Ice Cream, and Holiday Nog.

Sunfood Traveler (ISBN 978-1-88470-209-9) is published by Carmania Books. It is 376 pages and retails for $13.95. Purchase it online or from your local bookstore. Reviewed by Debra Wasserman.

Will you be in India in August? The Satvik Indian Vegan Society is having a vegan festival at their Sthitaprajna Vegan Centre! For more information, see:
http://www.indianvegansociety.com/vegan_festival

Satvik Indian Vegan Festival – 2012

Saturday Aug 18 – Monday Aug 20, 2012
Sthitaprajna Vegan Centre
Byndoor, Udupi Dist., Karnataka, India.

Three days of music and dance, beaches and speeches, excursion and introspection, rains and water, awards, food, fun and much more.

By Rebecca Kaplan, VRG intern

The National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity’s (NANA) webinar, “School Fundraising Can Be Healthy and Profitable,” discussed healthy alternatives to selling junk food as a way to raise money for schools. Selling unhealthy food on school property sends kids a mixed message about what to eat – teachers tell them to choose the healthy
option, but how can they be expected to do that when the only choices are a bag of chips, a hot dog, or a cookie?

The webinar also discussed that another problem is programs like Box Tops for Education, or Campbell’s Labels for Education, which encourage consumers to buy
products to support schools. This seems philanthropic but it is actually a marketing technique for the companies. The webinar indicated that as a way to raise funds for
schools, it is ineffective. The Campbell’s Labels for Education program gives schools one point for every participating Campbell’s product purchased, and schools can redeem points for school-related merchandise. But a box of colored pencils is priced at 950 points. According to NANA, you would have to buy $1,400 worth of soup (950 cans of soup at $1.50 a can) for a school to earn enough to buy one box of colored pencils through this program. Besides this, NANA says that 80% of the products in these programs are of poor nutritional quality, which sends the wrong message to children.

According to a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), “schools have a wide range of non-food and healthy-food fundraising options to choose from,” such as walkathons or selling bottles of water with sponsored ads from local businesses. Schools can also ensure that the food they sell on campus is up to a
higher nutritional standard. The Texas PTA has a program called “Better Bites” which brings produce, such as bananas and apples, to school bake sales. Principals and teachers are often the hardest to persuade to make changes, because they feel that candy and junk food will raise more money. But the report by CSPI found that schools make less money than they may think by selling junk food. For instance, a school may sell $17,000 worth of candy as a fundraiser, but if the candy costs $11,000 to buy, the profit margin for the school is only $6,000. This amount could be replaced by a healthier activity. For example, a Walk-A-Thon could raise $6,000 if 120 walkers participate with $50 each in sponsorships.

If you want to help, CSPI outlined ways you can help support healthier food in vending machines and fundraisers at schools. You can comment in support of USDA proposed regulations – research done by an organization called Bridging the Gap found that less than 35% of school districts nationwide have regulated the type of food allowed to be sold at schools (and of that regulation, it is more stringent for elementary schools than for high schools). You can also sign up for an action network, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest (cspinet.org), the American Public Health Association (apha.org), or join The National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (nanacoalition.org). You can also send schools information about healthy fundraising ideas, and help update and implement school wellness policies.

More information can be found online at:
cspinet.org/schoolfundraising.pdf

For more information about this Vegan Iron Chef event in Portland, see www.veganironchef.org, and https://www.facebook.com/events/335564419840663/

Vegan Iron Chef Presents: Scrambletown!

Vegan Iron Chef is proud to announce our first-ever Scrambledown! scramble showdown!

On June 16, about a dozen local chefs–both professionals and home cooks–will get creative with tofu. Or tempeh. Or potatoes. Or…who knows what they might come up with!

They’ll present the results to a small panel of judges, who will award a prize to their favorite, and to a hungry audience, who will do the same. Both winners–Judges’ Favorite and Audience Favorite–will take home a prize, and, of course, the right to brag about making the best vegan scramble in Portland.

Audience members will get to sample as many scrambles as they can get to, enjoy side dishes provided by our generous sponsors, and weigh in on the contentious question of who makes Portland’s best vegan scramble. They’ll also have the chance to win cool prizes (also donated by our fantastic sponsors) and support Vegan Iron Chef by buying raffle tickets.

Scrambletown! is happening on Saturday, June 16, 2012, at the Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR, from 2:00pm-4:00pm. Tickets are available for $10 at www.veganironchef.org Prospective competitors can also find the official rules and an application to compete at the website. (Please note that not all applicants will be invited to participate in Scrambletown!)

Vegan Iron Chef would like to thank the sponsors whose generous donations helped make this event possible: Nasoya tofu, Grand Central Bakery, Secret Aardvark hot sauce, Bee Free Honee, Whole Foods Market, Dave’s Killer Bread, Tofurky and Stalkmarket Products.